Media News

Botswana
Botswana’s governing party is expected to prevail over a divided opposition in the Oct. 15 elections despite added pressure on leaders in the world’s largest diamond-producing country amid the global recession. Even the opposition, which warns that one-party rule is being entrenched at the expense of democracy, doesn’t expect victory against a party that has been in power since Botswana won independence from Britain in 1966. The Botswana Democratic Party won 44 of 57 seats in the last elections held in 2004, with the remaining 13 seats split between the Botswana National Front and the Botswana Congress Party. (AP)

Chad
Human rights activists in Chad say they fear a new Chinese-backed oil project will displace hundreds of people and will destroy at least 10 villages. Work has begun to build a 300km (185 mile) pipeline from the Koudalwa oilfields in the south of the country, to a new refinery north of the capital. But activists say an environmental impact assessment was inadequate and residents were not properly consulted. Chad’s government says those who have to move will be compensated. It is six years this week since Chad’s first US-led oil project at Doba came on stream. (BBC)

Congo (DRC)
More than 1,000 civilians have been killed and nearly 900,000 displaced in eastern Congo (DRC) by Rwandan Hutu militiamen and Congolese forces since January, a coalition of 84 humanitarian organizations said Oct. 13, noting that many of the killings were carried out by Rwandan Hutu militiamen. Government soldiers also have targeted civilians, they said. A Congolese military operation has been aimed at forcing out the Hutu militiamen, many of whom participated in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. The groups said the UN-backed military operation is not doing enough to protect civilians in the region. “The human rights and humanitarian consequences of the current military operation are simply disastrous,” said Marcel Stoessel of Oxfam. (AP)

Congo (Brazzaville)
Congo Brazzaville is offering a third of its territory to foreign investors. Congo wants to lease farming land for 90 years. In exchange, Brazzaville gets a flow of capital that is crucial for the development of the areas, and hopes that it will attract investment in infrastructure. Critics of this phenomenon brand it as neo-colonialism and warn that local farmers are rarely taken into account. (El PaC-s, Madrid)

Egypt
We are very disgruntled with President Obama. He has given the regime the green light to do what it wants with the Egyptian people.” -- Kamal al-Fayoumi, a labor leader who was jailed by the Egyptian government for launching a major strike last year, in an interview with the Washington Post.

Four months after the US president delivered an address from Cairo in which he voiced American commitment to human rights and the rule of law, concern is mounting among Egypt’s pro-reform activists that the US is abandoning its long-standing efforts to bring democratic reforms to the Arab world’s most populous nation. “His reduced talk of democracy is giving these non-democratic regimes the security that they won’t face pressure. And that’s having a negative impact on democracy in the Arab world,” said Ayman Nour, a prominent opposition politician.

According to the daily, US pressure for democratic reforms in Egypt, once effective, waned in the final years of the Bush administration. But critics charge that the pressure has significantly eased at ahead of the presidential election is set for 2011, the Post says. Speculation is rife that incumbent Hosni Mubarak, 81, will anoint son Gamal as his successor before the election, raising fears that the regime will undemocratically extend its 28-year-old rule. The clearest indication yet of the US shift is the funding cuts, activists say.

Last year, the United States allocated USD 54.8 million for democracy programs, of which USD 27.85 million went to civil society programs, the nexus of grass-roots activism for democracy.

This year, the funding has shrunk to USD 20 million, of which USD 5 million went to civil society groups. Obama has met with Mubarak three times, reestablishing Egypt’s position as a key strategic ally in the Arab world. This marks a significant departure from the Bush administration, during which tensions between Washington and Cairo raged over US policies in the Middle East, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and American criticism of Egypt’s political and human rights record.

Ethiopia
Food security continues to plague many areas of Ethiopia because of drought, according to the latest joint report by the UN World Food Program (WFP) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. Most of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNP), northern Afar, parts of Amhara, eastern Oromiya and Gambella regions are highly food insecure, while the Somali Region and the southern Oromiya lowlands are extremely food insecure. In the lowlands of SNNP and Oromiya, seasonal rainfall has been poor, leading to delays in planting and wilting of crops, the report says. Similar conditions are being reported in parts of Tigray and Amhara and in most districts of Afar and Gambella regions. (UN News Service)

Gabon
Gabon’s Constitutional Court rejected on Oct. 12 challenges launched by the opposition to Ali Ben Bongo’s victory in an August presidential election, paving the way for Ben Bongo to replace his father as president. Violence erupted in two of the oil-producer’s major cities shortly after the poll result was first announced but a disjointed collection of opposition parties failed to convince the court to reverse Ben Bongo’s win in a drawn-out challenge. “The election of Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba as president of the Republic of Gabon is confirmed,” Court President Marie Madeleine Mborantsuo, said in a decision read out on state television on the evening of Oct. 12. According to the final tally, Ben Bongo scored 41.8 percent of the vote. (Reuters)

Guinea
Reviled internationally for gunning down unarmed pro-democracy protesters last month, the military government of Guinea has gained a lifeline - thanks to a USD 7 billion mining deal it says it obtained with a Chinese company. Human rights groups decried the deal while China kept a low profile, not confirming Tuesday’s announcement by Guinea, a West African country led by Capt. Moussa “Dadis” Camara who seized power in a coup in December. “There’s a real risk that these investments could entrench and embolden and enrich an already abusive government,” said Arvind Ganesan, director of Human Rights Watch’s Business and Human Rights Program. (AP)

Nigeria
At least eight Nigerians were killed when protests against the razing of their homes turned violent in the oil hub Port Harcourt, residents said on Oct. 13, but the police denied any deaths. Hundreds of residents from the Bundu Ama community took to the streets early on Oct. 12 to stop government officials and security forces marking their waterfront homes and businesses for demolishment. Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has ordered hundreds of buildings to be razed in Bundu Ama and surrounding neighborhoods in Port Harcourt, saying the shanty towns housed squatters and were a safe-haven for criminals. (Reuters)

Rwanda
A top suspect accused of forming secret death squads and orchestrating the killings of thousands during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide pleaded not guilty on Oct. 14 to war crimes charges. Idelphonse Nizeyimana, Rwanda’s former deputy intelligence chief, entered his plea at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda after being captured in Uganda earlier this month. Nizeyimana is accused of ordering the killing of children, hospital patients, priests and even an elderly and revered African queen. (AP)

Somalia
Pirates off of Somalia’s coast are becoming increasingly sophisticated and even an international naval force has done little to combat the scourge off the Horn of Africa, the Somali police chief said Oct. 14. Somalia, which has had no functioning central government since 1991, is unable to police its 3,060-kilometer coastline, allowing gangs to target ships throughout the Gulf of Aden, said Abdi Hassan Awaleh, commissioner of the Somali Police Force. Pirates have successfully hijacked 34 ships worldwide so far this year, mostly off the Somali coast, compared to 49 during all of last year. (AP)

South Africa
South African police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at crowds of protesters angry at a lack of services and proper housing in their townships. Thousands of residents in two communities east of Johannesburg had barricaded roads and marched on public offices, setting one building alight. President Jacob Zuma had promised to improve services in the townships to quell a wave of protests but the recession has hampered his plans. Sakhile township has been the scene of protests for two weeks. The latest outbreak of unrest came after residents marched to a local municipality building to hand over a memorandum of demands. They blame their lack of basic service on corrupt local councilors. (BBC)

Zimbabwe
A Zimbabwean court on Oct. 14 ordered the detention of Roy Bennett, a senior official in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and an ardent critic of President Robert Mugabe’s policies. He was previously arrested on Feb. 13 -- just before he was to be sworn in as deputy agriculture minister in the new power-sharing government. Bennett now faces charges of possessing weapons for sabotage, banditry and terrorism. Initially he had been charged with treason. The arrest of Bennett, a white coffee grower whose property was expropriated under the country’s controversial land reform laws, came as other ministers where being sworn into the coalition government formed by Mugabe and Tsvangirai. (CNN)

Compiled by africainstitute.com & developmentex.com